Midnight openings were long the exclusive event for blockbuster movies and Rocky Horror reruns. But a certain boy wizard allowed children of all ages to stay up late reading. The juggernaut of the book world, Harry Potter garnered international attention on the day of each new book’s release. Book stores planned parties with costumes, decorations, reading parties, and lots of ringing registers for kids (and adults) to share in their passion. Star Wars fans and comic book geeks have made the midnight movie a staple of their summer nights, but Harry Potter introduced a new generation to the nightlife and how cool, and welcoming, it can be.

One of the greatest Star Wars video games owes it all to those little building blocks called Legos. Lego Star Wars gave the duel trilogy a hilarious and enjoyable romp through the galaxy with tons of collectables, vehicles, and playable characters. More Lego games including the just released Indiana Jones and upccoming Batman lead me to wonder what else can the franchise build.

7. Power Rangers

They might be campy and kiddy, but they still have awesome video game potential yet to be realized. Awesome martial arts moves with cool weapons and giant robots all to fight a bizarre assortment of monsters. With hundreds of monsters, Zords, and different kinds of Power Rangers over the years, there’s tons of unlockables to give this game long legs. Just remember co-op. This is a team effort.

6. South Park

Let’s see the mature side of Legos by turning the foul mouthed kids of Colorado into colorful blocks of fun. Let’s even risk the cliched sandbox approach, rebuilding the entire town of South Park in Legos with missions from the show, like fighting vicious turkeys and Mecha-Streisand.

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Reading books sucks, unless those books teach you something like, say, magic.  These 7 masters of mystics have done their reading and know all the best, most flashy, and powerful spells in the book(s). 

7. Malificent

Best known for her master Sleeping Beauty curse, this mistress of the dark arts has a real fire inside her.  Yup, a dragon joke.  Sure the pretty Prince Charming stabbed her an apparently killed her, but the Kingdom Hearts video game series showed she can spring back from anything - even a little boy with a giant key.

6. Voldemort

The Dark Lord has cheated death and has remained one of the most fearsome names in magic even though he was beaten by a little baby.  Hubris aside, Voldemort’s got a bevy of scary spells from the Killing Curse to mind control and talking to snakes (and he looks like one too).  Maybe if he stopped fighting adults and took kids seriously he’d be alive and higher on the list.

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For almost four years, Harry Potter roamed the halls of Hogwarts fighting off giant spiders, evil books, and aunts and uncles.  At the end of his fourth year, his great fear came to life when Voldemort returned to his former power and greatest.  The Dark Lord spent more than a decade clasping to a single thread of life living until his henchmen brought him back.  Voldemort had Harry kidnapped and teleported to the place where Voldemort murdered Harry’s parents.  Voldemort rose from near death, ready to unleash his vengeance on the wizarding world.  Harry escaped, of course, fighting Voldemort for three more blockbuster books.  But it was at this moment the Harry Potter series matured.  No longer was Harry just facing henchmen and intelligent rats.  He had the Dark Lord to face.  And mid-terms.  Sucks.

To best sum up 2007, I have combed the entertainment world to find these seven highlights that brought joy to my heart and hokey crap like that. These are the must-see movies, comics, shows, and events that every geek needs to enjoy before tackling anything in 2008.

7. Buffy Season 8

While television spin-offs remain in development limbo, the comic book world welcomed Joss Whedon with open arms. Whedon continues the adventures of Buffy the Vampire Slayer in comic book form, an unheard of use of cross media storytelling. Buffy Season 8, published by Dark Horse Comics, features Whedon and other top writers telling the stories that might have appeared on the TV screen had Buffy continued - and if Whedon had an unlimited budget. The experiment is far from over, and the first bunch of issues have yet to shock and awe in the same way the show did, but the punchy dialogue and quick wit makes this a must read because there’s nothing else like it.

6. Bioshock

If all the awards and rave reviews haven’t convinced you Bioshock is as good as the Second Coming, than you don’t deserve to wear the geek moniker. This art deco romp through philosophical mind games is one of the most unforgettable video game experiences around. The unique gameplay and soon-to-be classic Big Daddies only lays the foundation to a brilliant story filled with plot twists that affect how you view playing the video game.

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Our world is boring. We can’t fly, cast spells, or get pet dragons. But in the world of fantasy and fiction, all this is possible. If you lived in one of these fantastic worlds, maybe you to could be one of the great and powerful. So think of this as your travel guide to the 7 coolest fictional worlds to live in. Airfare not included.

7. Pre-Episode 1 in Star Wars

You could be a Jedi living in the massive Star Wars universe before all those evil Stormtroopers took over. The Republic stood over a peaceful galaxy of incredible technology and fun gadgets. You could be a Jedi, a Senator, or just a bad-ass spaceship captain. And get some of those cool droids.

6. Azeroth

Azeroth from World of Warcraft earns a spot simply cause so many of us already spend all our time there. Wouldn’t it be easier to level up our character if we didn’t have to waste time in the real world. And frankly, in Azeroth, we’re more popular, sexier, and richer. So why not spend all our time in Azeroth. Plus, we can have bad-ass swords and magical powers. That’s always good.

5. Neopolis

If you want super-powers, this is the place to go. Everyone in Neopolis, has super-powers, from the police to the criminals to the hot-dog vendors. Even the pets have super-powers. So the city might be a little dangerous, but at least you’ll have some cool powers to help protect you.

4. Toontown in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

Cartoons are cool. Towns made of cartoons are cooler. Yup, after a day of filling your favorite cartoons, these hard working animations retire to the sunny splendor of Toontown. Cars drive themselves, the clouds sing, and Betty Boo serves cigarettes. It’s a perfect world.

3. Star Trek’s Federation

How awesome would it be to live in a world without poverty, war, or suffering. Yeah, I don’t give a crap either, but spending all my time on a holodeck would kick ass. Yeah, space travel, teleporting, and the endless menus of the replicator pale to the awesomeness of the holodeck, where all my imaginations can come to hard-light truth. Frankly, any one of these worlds could be replicated in the holodeck.

2. New York City in the Marvel Universe

Ever want to lie near Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Avengers, and the Fantastic Four. Only New York City is big enough to house them all. Sure odds are you’ll get killed in some massive super villain attack - a different one happens every week. But for the chance to meet one of these legends.

1. Harry Potter-verse

If you haven’t dreamed of going to a magic school, you don’t deserve to call yourself a geek. The Harry Potter books just perfected that vision with a humorous and fulfilling magic world hidden in our own. Who knows, maybe J.K. Rowling had some inside information into the real deal. We can only hope. What kind of wand do you want?

Every Monday, I force my opinion on you, my fearless readers, ranking the seven of something geeky.

So I’m all for promoting tolerance and inclusive characters, but I don’t think it has the same effect if no one knew…or cared. Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling announced last week (while I was away in London, an ocean away from my computer) that Potter’s mentor Albus Dumbledore is a homosexual. Ian McKellen must be pissed for missing out on this role.

I want to know what’s Rowling’s point for announcing this now. Yes there’s fan fiction that questions Dumbledore and about every other Harry Potter character’s sexuality, so I don’t really count that. As a lover of Harry Potter and someone who reads homosexuality in everything (like Batman, Frodo and Sam, and Magneto in the X-Men movies) I never even cared about Dumbledore’s sexuality. He’s a really old dude and that’s ewwwy.

But if Rowling is trying to show her stories to be filled with diverse characters, maybe she should have put this detail in the books. It doesn’t have to be overpowering. Just characterization. This way us readers could have debated and argued and watched the Religious Right fume. Now, it’s just like…uh…yeah…cool. Way to get back into the headlines. You go Rowling.

I wonder if this will be written out of movie Harry Potter continuity. Don’t be surprised if Dumbledore starts making eyes at Professor McGonagall.